Halloween Time
by themasterwaifu
Summary: It's Damian's first Halloween since becoming a member of the bat family, but he's not very happy about it. Maybe Dick can do something about it.


_Author's notes: Please do excuse the poor quality of this fic, as I am a bit drunk after finding the perfect pairing of wine to Halloween Candy XD Inspired by the Lil Gotham comic. Consider this a little teaser for my next multi-chapter fic set in the DC universe._

* * *

It was... far too quiet in Wayne Manor, Bruce realized as he stalked the halls. Ever since Jason was around, Halloween made him nervous. Even as a boy he had an obsession with scaring the absolute daylights out of people. Bruce didn't put it past the Red Hood to bust out of prison just to pull some nasty prank. Taking care, he peered carefully around each corner, making sure the coast was clear before entering any room or hall.

"Father?"

Bruce's heart leapt into his throat, but he'd never let anyone know. Turning slowly, he saw Damian skulking behind him, a sour look on his face. He looked impatient, like he was expecting something, but for the lie of him Bruce couldn't think of what it was.

"Is everything alright?" Bruce asked, taking a step so he didn't have his back to the hallway.

"Should I be asking you that?" Damian countered, arching a brow at his father's actions. Bruce just shrugged and Damian sighed. "When are we going out tonight?"

"We don't," Bruce said simply. At Damian's sputtering, he explained. "Everyone is going to be in costume tonight. Some of them even like to dress up as villains. The actual villains usually take the night off. You should too. Get some rest, you've seemed tired lately."

"I'm not tired!" Damian cried after his father as he continued skulking through the halls.

He went as fast as his short legs could carry him, but Bruce was out of his sight faster than he would have liked. Damian just huffed. He chanced a glance out the window and wondered if, just maybe, Bruce had disabled the security around the manor. He figured it was a worth a try and went down to the batcave to change. The second he stepped off the elevator, he saw Dick standing near the console with a smirk and an orange bucket.

"Grayson," Damian said with a nod as he scampered off to get changed. "What are you doing here?"

"Collecting you," Dick said simply, grinning from ear to ear as he fixed his mask over his face. "You and me are going out tonight. No Bat."

"No Bat?" that perked his interest as he clipped the last boot buckle into place and put his own mask on.

"No Bat," Dick confirmed with a nod. "Lee asked us out to the village. She thinks there's going to be some trouble."

Damian couldn't suppress his groan. Lee, or rather Harley Quinn, had a house in the old Village of Gotham, the sleepy town about 20 minutes outside the city. She was Bruce's cousin, a deep cover agent for the batfamily, and Dick's girlfriend. Damian didn't hate her, in fact there were times when he kind of liked her, but most of the time he tolerated her for Dick's sake. It would have to be one of those nights.

Without another word, they hoped in Dick's car began the drive. It was a bit longer because they were coming from the manor, but they arrived in the Village just after five, when the trick or treating was just beginning. Damian suddenly understood why Bruce said no patrolling that night. He saw people of all ages dressed up in all kinds of costumes, and he could see how from the rooftops it could make things difficult. He chuckled when Dick cursed the police barricades, having to flash his badge to get through onto Harley's street. Damian was amazed that it worked, considering Dick was in full Nightwing get up. No one further stopped them as they pulled into her driveway, or when they walked around to the front of the house. Harley was already outside with a bowl full of candy, sitting on the front steps in her usual jester regalia. She leapt to her feet when she saw them, bounding over to give Dick a firm kiss.

"Glad you guys could make it," she said with a large grin as she sat back down on the stairs, smoothing out her skirts.

"Nightwing said you were expecting trouble," Damian said, crossing his arms over his chest. He felt distinctly exposed in his costume and the daylight in the middle of Harley's yard while she passed out candy.

"No more than the usual sorts here," she said with a shrug. "Did you not tell him the real reason?"

"What real reason?" Damian asked, now pouting. Dick and Harley shared a look, and he grinned.

"You are going trick or treating," Dick said, tossing the orange pumpkin bucket at Damian.

"No."

"Just go up to a house and say trick or treat."

"Pass."

"Damian."

"This is for children."

"You are a child."

"Here Damian." Harley dropped a Kit Kat in the bucket and smiled at him. "Happy Halloween."

Damian glowered, looking down at the lone candy. Dick pushed him the direction of Harley's neighbors. He stumbled a couple of feet, pouted, and stomped over to the house. He went through the motions of trick or treating, keenly aware of the eyes on him, and kept going down the block until he was out of sight.

"Think he'll kill anyone?" Harley asked as Damian dropped out of view.

"I think he'll try," Dick said with a chuckle as he sat down next to his girl.

* * *

Despite himself, Damian was having a bit of fun. As he walked from house to house (making sure to plan the perfect route so he wasn't overlapping himself) he found he liked walking the streets incognito. No one knew he was actually Robin. He got plenty of compliments on his costume, some people gave him extra candy "for the authenticity" and everyone left him mostly alone. It was splendid. Though he did run in to the problem that his bucket was starting to get full. He didn't want to walk all the way back up to Harley's house to deposit his hoard, so he ate a few pieces. And then a few more. Then some more. Before he knew it, he'd run out of room to stuff the empty wrappers, but his bucket was lighter. He also didn't feel like walking anymore. Instead he started doing as many acrobatic tricks as he could. Kids were applauding him every time he stuck a landing and parents were just shaking their heads and looking around for whoever was supposed to be watching him.

Damian finished his planned out route, now actually bouncing up and down, and turned to cross the street again back to Harley's house. As he did so, however, he was nearly bowled off his feet by a group of drunken teenagers as they raced past him on bikes and skates. Damian soured a little, not paying much attention until he heard Dick's shouting. They were standing on the road side, all pointing at Harley and making lewd gestures and saying things so rude that a sailor would blush. Dick stalked up to them, hands on his hips and looking thoroughly annoyed.

"Oooooh, look, the bat brat is coming to tell us off!" one of the teens mocked. The others started laughing and he continued. "What's a superhero gonna do to us?"

"Actually…" Dick said with a sigh, pulling out his badge. He hoped they were drunk enough to not even notice it said city police and not village, "I'm a police officer. Now I could have you all arrested right now for underage drinking and public intoxication, not to mention disturbing the peace and breaking a dozen other city ordinances… Or I can let you go with a warning on the condition that you all march straight home and stay there until tomorrow. What do you guys think?" The teens all looked down in shame and muttered that they'd go home. "Good. Now if you even dare to try anything else tonight, I will personally make sure you all never leave prison for a very long time. Understand?" They nodded and walked off, tails securely between their legs. Harley smiled as he sat back down and planted a loud kiss on his cheek.

"My hero~" she grinned, leaning her head on his shoulder. It was then that she spotted Damian and waved him over. "Hey! How did ya do? Get a big haul?" Damian lifted his bucket, letting its weight slam down on the porch. "Well, well, well. You didn't do half bad."

"I did great!" Damian said with a huge smile, throwing his hands in the air and almost falling backwards. "This is an amazing holiday! I can't believe I never knew about it before! Can we do this next year too?!"

"Sure, why not?" Dick said with a shrug, sharing a knowing glance with Harley. "Say, D… how much candy did you eat?"

"A few pieces," Damian said with a shrug. He then did a back flip and grinned. "Did you see that?!"

"We saw," Harley said, shaking her head. "I hope you didn't spoil your dinner. I'm gonna make pasta."

"Great!"

* * *

Damian didn't make it to dinner. He crashed from his sugar high nearly an hour later and passed out on the couch. Harley and Dick weren't far behind him, having ran out of candy at ten after 6 and had to eat a small dinner by candlelight, lest the lights on make kids think there's candy. Damian slept like a rock, forcing Harley to make up the guest bed while Dick half wrestled with Damian's dead weight to get him upstairs. Despite how small the boy was, he wasn't at all light, and Dick found that out the hard way. It didn't take long for them to tuck him into bed, Harley pressing a soft kiss to his temple and turning out the lights.

"I bet this is what family is like," she said with a soft sigh as they lingered in the doorway in that way that parents do.

"Yeah I bet it is," Dick agreed, his arm coming to wrap around her waist.

"Wanna help me eat all his chocolate?"

"God yes."


End file.
